After six months of financial tumult and legal sparring, Price Tower, the only skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is finally changing hands. The 19-story structure in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, will be sold for $1.4 million following a Washington County Judge Russell Vaclaw’s ruling on January 21, Artnet News reported Friday.
The resolution compels the enforcement of a May 2023 contract between the current owners, Copper Tree and Green Copper Holdings, together known as Copper Entities, and Tulsa-based McFarlin Building Company.
The sale winds up a six month dispute. McFarlin had sought to block other potential buyers, arguing it had already agreed to acquire the property. Meanwhile, Copper Entities were burdened by debts estimated at $2 million. These include a $600,000 loan from a local businessman and $200,000 borrowed from individuals linked to Bartlesville’s tight-knit community and people connected to Cynthia Blanchard, Copper Entities’ president. The court will hold the funds pending creditor claims and other complications.
The building’s fixtures—some sold off in breach of preservation agreements—complicated matters further. Copper Entities began auctioning off furnishings last summer, citing financial pressures. A clause in McFarlin’s contract requires the sale to include all fixtures, including Wright-designed items such as copper relief panels and custom armchairs. The proceeds from any pre-sale transactions, ruled the judge, must either be refunded or deducted from the sale price.
Copper Entities declared bankruptcy two days after the ruling, potentially muddling the payout process. The tower itself, closed since August, has been without utilities during Oklahoma’s icy winter, adding urgency to the proceedings and allegedly putting the building at risk. Despite a January 16 court order and claims by McFarlin that they tried to have the utilities restored, the power has remained off—a detail that underscores the fraught state of the transaction.
Vaclaw called the building a “priceless artifact.” Completed in 1956, it was Wright’s only realized skyscraper, originally conceived for New York. Copper Entities promised modernization plans, including restaurants and a boutique hotel, but delivered little beyond mounting debts.
McFarlin, known for restoring historic properties like Tulsa’s Mayo Hotel, may offer hope for Price Tower. As for its immediate plans, the first step is turning the lights back on.
